


"Hey... So how come you're lying on the ground?"

by Get_below_my_line_of_vision



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Mortal, Comedy, F/M, First Meetings, Rachel and Percy are childhood friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:26:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24387421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Get_below_my_line_of_vision/pseuds/Get_below_my_line_of_vision
Summary: Percy is buying tampons. Annabeth is lying on the ground outside, her nose bleeding. It's called an awkward first encounter.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Rachel Elizabeth Dare & Percy Jackson
Comments: 10
Kudos: 95





	"Hey... So how come you're lying on the ground?"

**Author's Note:**

> You will not believe how many times I wrote "tampons" and "pads".  
> This is my first PJO fic so please be kind to me.

Percy opened the door of his apartment to come face to face with Rachel. There was no need for any kind of greeting as she just walked in as if the place was her home. Technically, they have spent more time together than apart, so in a way, this place was her home as well.  
“What is it this time?” Percy asked.  
Rachel always came over; she was his oldest friend. But every time there was a different explanation in why she cooped herself in his apartment.  
“My mum hasn’t come home.” Rachel turned the television on and patted beside her, inviting him to sit next to her as if Percy was the visitor.  
“It’s nine PM. Of course she wouldn't be home by now. It’s usually ten that she gets home.” He sat next to her, stealing the remote and hopping channels.  
“She hasn’t been home since two days ago.”  
Percy turned off the television. “She what? Why didn’t you tell me?”  
Rachel shrugged. “She does this all the time. I just got lonely. She’ll be back soon. Hey, can I sleep on your couch?”  
Percy sighed. “I think my mum would be okay with that.”  
“Of course she would be.” She snorted, “Your mum’s cool.”  
Percy rolled his eyes. “I’ll get the blanket.”  


He strolled slowly to the cabinet with a blanket specifically for Rachel. At this point she was becoming the second child of Sally.  
When he returned to the living room, Rachel was not there. He sighed again, but purposefully loud this time for Rachel to hear. The toilet flushed in response.  
He set the blanket on the couch.  


“Uh, Percy?” Rachel called out from the bathroom.  
“What?” Rachel really did seem worried this time, so Percy showed worry in his voice.  
“Crap.” She hissed at herself. “Umm, my period just started.”  
“Uh,” Percy paused for a second, “What?”  
“I need a tampon.”  
“Mum should have some in there.”  
“She does, but it’s just pads. And they’re not suited for heavy flow.”  
Percy paced around, more nervous than she was. “Can you just use tissue?”  
“Percy? Can you do me a favour?”  
He realised what she wanted him to do. “No, I will not buy them for you. It’s embarrassing…”  
“Percy, I swear, if you don’t do this, you will face the wrath of my hormones.”  
“Okay.” He was quick to comply. “I’ll be back in, like, ten minutes.”  
“Five.”  
“Seven.”  


With some money, Percy quickly put on his shoes and jogged to the nearest supermarket, begging they were open.  
As he approached the bright lights of the supermarket, he could hear shoutings. His eyes followed his ears to see a group of three boys, shoving a girl. At first, he thought about calling the police. Then one of the boys stepped out of the shadows. It was a boy he knew from school, “Hey, Percy!”  
“Hi…?” Percy said, unsure about how he should react, “What’s going on there?”  
“Nothing.” He shrugged.  
“There shouldn’t be anything going on there. I’m going to call the Police, you alright with that, buddy?”  
As he was speaking, his legs were shaking. Percy acted confident, but only around Rachel and his mother. At other times, he was as quiet as a person could be. This was a very frightening moment for him.  
The boy’s eyes turned sharp, “I said we weren’t doing anything.”  
Percy cleared his throat, “Alright then. There should be no problems if I call them now?” Percy became more scared of the boy; since he knew him from school, there was no escape, “I just have to buy something first.”  
He rushed into the supermarket and distanced himself. Standing up for someone was not friendly to the heart.  


He slowly exhaled to calm himself.  
Then he grabbed a box of tampons. Then a voice echoed in his head: it belonged to Rachel. “She hasn’t been home since two days ago.”  
Right. Percy didn’t know when she would return. Plus, there was no downside to buying more tampons… So he grabbed another box. Then Rachel whispered in his mind again. “They’re not suited for heavy flow.”  
Rachel bled a lot. Percy picked up another box of tampons. Then another one, just in case. How many tampons were in one box? Five? Three? To check, he lightly shook a box close to his ear, trying to hear how many there were. He didn't realise how odd he looked.  


Then as he approached the counter, he walked past where pads were. Percy thought. Did Rachel also need pads? Just in case the tampons leak. So he grabbed one. Then two. Then three. He didn’t know how much girls bled on their period.  
By the time he approached the counter, he was practically balancing light cubes.  
The worker popped her gum as she scanned them all individually. “Do you want a bag?”  
Percy had always cared about the ocean. “No.” He didn't want more plastic to suffocate the sea life.  
The woman looked at what he was buying then back at him. “Are you sure?”  
“Yes.” Percy was not sure.  
“Alright.” She shrugged.  


When he exited, he balanced all of them as he glanced at the floor from time to time to see if he was on the right path. Since it was dark, the fact that he saw yellow from far away was strange to him. Rather than going straight home, he approached the blonde girl. As he got closer and closer he realised her nose was bleeding.  
He cocked his head. He knew her. She was Annabeth Chase. She attended his school. Granted, they never talked, but he noticed her. She was the pretty, intelligent girl in the class they shared one time because his teacher was absent due to the snowy weather outside and thus had to merge classes. He was sure she knew him too.  


Casually, he sat down. “Hi.”  
Annabeth glanced upwards and saw him. “Hello?”  
“Your nose is bleeding.”  
“It is?” She touched her nose and flinched, “It is.”  
“Need a tampon?” He joked.  
There was little time for thought as she ripped open the container and mercilessly ripped the plastic and stuck the tampon in her nose. "Huh, it works." She shrugged.

Right now, Percy was shellshocked from seeing a naked tampon for the first time. At least the mystery of how many tampons there were in a box was revealed.  
She snorted from seeing his reaction. Taking the situation in, she realised how ridiculous the situation was in the first place. She sighed heavily. “I’m not having a good day, am I?”  
“No you're not. Are you okay? What happened?”  
“Yeah… Just got in an argument. Got punched in the face, that’s all.” Her voice sounded sick due to blockage on her nose. He held back a smile.  
On observation, she was lying on the floor so he assumed more had happened, “Are you sure that’s all?”  
“Yeah.” She sat up, “I just found the ground to be comfortable.”  
They were facing each other now. He focused on her grey eyes. They were so unique… “Yeah… I find it comfortable too.”  
She clicked her fingers, breaking whatever train of thought Percy had, “Hey, aren’t you the guy who said something about calling the Police?”  
He blushed, already that memory was cringey. “Oh, I’m sorry.” It was a little comforting since she had a tampon in her nose so at least he didn't look as strange in comparison.  
“No, no, that was great. It chased them away.” She shrugged, smiling.  
Percy couldn’t help but smile back; her smile was like sunshine. “I live near here, I can do something about your nose.”  
Annabeth turned stiff and Percy immediately began panicking. He didn’t want to give off the wrong vibe, he really wanted her to like him.  


“I’ll walk with you.” She compromised as she stood up. “Which way?”  
“That way.” Percy pointed, forgetting he was holding something.  
Annabeth chuckled as she picked up a few of the boxes.  


As they walked together, Percy couldn’t keep his eyes off of her, and not because of her nose. Although he would look away whenever she glanced at him, pretending she wasn’t the most beautiful girl he had seen. Annabeth didn’t notice how Percy was acting. “Hey… How come you have so many tampons and pads?”  
“Huh?” Percy gave a forced laugh, “It’s for my friend.”  
“What a lucky girl. I would kill to have this kind of a present.”  
“No, she requested me to buy these.”  
“This much?” She raised her eyebrow.  
“No… She didn’t say how much.”  
Annabeth chuckled, shaking her head.  
“Alright, I get it, I don’t know how much a girl needs in a day.”  
“No, no, this is thoughtful.” Annabeth nodded. Then she stopped in her tracks. She looked around, “Crap,” She carefully piled the tampons and pads into Percy’s arm, “I think I left my phone back there.”  
“Oh, do you want me to--?”  
“No. It’s fine. I’ll go back and get it. Nice talking to you.”  
“Yeah, uh, nice…” Then he watched her run off. “...Talking to you…” Frankly, he found her brave, willing to be alone in the wilderness with a tampon stuck up her nose.  


He sighed as he reached his front door. He couldn’t open the door without dropping everything. “Geronimo,” He whispered as he spread his arms.  
From his back pocket he got his keys out and unlocked the door. He then proceeded to pick them back up as he entered in, closing the door with his foot.  
As he knocked on the bathroom door with his head, Rachel popped in from the living room. “You're super late-- Jesus, Percy, why do you have so much?”  
"... They’re expensive too…” He muttered. “Wait, why aren’t you in the bathroom?”  
“There were weak flow pads. So I’m wearing one now.”  
Then it dawned on Percy that she could’ve gone out instead. “I hate you, Rachel.”  
“Love you too,” She gave a peck on his cheek and picked a packet of pads like a rich person would selecting their meal in an expensive restaurant. With her chosen brand, she entered the bathroom.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write this because there's the unwritten rule that we should not talk about periods, and I don't like that grrr  
> Also yay a male and female friendship. Dying to see more of that in media!!
> 
> Thanks for reading


End file.
